Catholic Bishops Appalled by Amnesty International's New Stance on Abortion

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has expressed outrage at the decision of Amnesty International to support women's rights to have abortions. The decision represents a change in what has been a long-standing position of the organization's which was antagonistic toward abortion.

The Conference has called it an affront to "people in many nations, cultures and religions who share a consistent commitment to all human rights."

"Amnesty International's action will lead many people of conscience to seek alternative means to end grave human rights abuses, fight injustice, and promote freedom of conscience and expression. The essential work of protecting human life and promoting human dignity must carry on...To some, the action of Amnesty International may appear to be a compassionate response to women in difficult situations of pregnancy, but this is a false compassion...As our Conference has argued, a far more compassionate response is to provide support and services for pregnant women, advance their educational and economic standing in society, and resist all forms of violence and stigmatization against women," writes William S. Skylstad, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Critics of this militant stance against abortion assert that it is the extension of the looming shadow of patriarchal attitudes that formerly led the Catholic Church to degrade women for centuries, because it does not take into consideration the sacred right of a woman to decide what to do with her own body and her own future.

Although the Church would be justified in asserting that abortion is not an acceptable form of birth control, it fails to consider the agonizing choice that would face a pregnant woman, and probably the father of her unborn child, if she learned that carrying through with her pregnancy would threaten her life, or if medical scans showed that her baby would be severely deformed or diseased in some way, the critics continue.